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   Plate

   /plāt/

   

   noun

   • 1. a flat dish, typically circular and made of china, from which food is eaten or served: "he pushed his empty plate to one side and sipped his wine" Similar dishplatterbowlsalverdinner plateside platesoup plateashetarchaic:trencherchargerrare:paten
   • ▪ an amount of food on a plate: "a plate of spaghetti" Similar platefulhelpingportionservingplatter
   • ▪ a course of a meal, served on one plate: North American "I'll have the salad plate"
   • ▪ a flat dish, typically made of metal or wood, passed around a church congregation in order to collect donations of money: "they brought around the collection plates"
   • ▪ a shallow glass dish on which a culture of cells or microorganisms may be grown: "a tissue culture plate"
   • 2. dishes, bowls, cups, and other utensils made of gold, silver, or other metal: "an exhibition of the plate belonging to the college"
   • ▪ a silver or gold dish or trophy awarded as a prize in a race or competition: "she lifted the plate in victory"
   • ▪ a race or competition in which a silver or gold trophy is awarded: "the final of the Ladies' Plate at Henley"
   • 3. a thin, flat sheet or strip of metal or other material, typically one used to join or strengthen things or forming part of a machine: "he underwent surgery to have a steel plate put into his leg" Similar panelsheetlayerlaminaleafpaneslab
   • ▪ a small, flat piece of metal or other material bearing a name or inscription and attached to a door or other object: "a brass plate with her initials" Similar plaquenameplatedoor platetabletsignbrassmedallionplaquettecartouche
   • ▪ short for license plate
   • ▪ short for home plate
   • ▪ a piece of lumber laid horizontally along the top of a wall to support the ends of joists or rafters.
   • ▪ a light horseshoe for a racehorse.
   • 4. a thin, flat organic structure or formation: "the fused bony plates protect the tortoise's soft parts"
   • 5. each of the several rigid pieces of the earth's lithosphere which together make up the earth's surface. "the Pacific Ocean plate"
   • 6. a sheet of metal, plastic, or some other material bearing an image of type or illustrations from which multiple copies are printed: "the correct alignment of the plates in four-color printing"
   • ▪ a printed photograph, picture, or illustration, especially one on superior-quality paper in a book: "the book contains sixty color plates" Similar pictureprintillustrationphotographphotoengravinglithographrare:vignette
   • ▪ a thin sheet of metal, glass, or other substance coated with a light-sensitive film on which an image is formed, used in larger or older types of cameras.
   • 7. a thin piece of plastic molded to the shape of a person's mouth and gums, to which artificial teeth or another orthodontic appliance are attached.
   • ▪ a complete denture or orthodontic appliance. informal
   • 8. a thin piece of metal that acts as an electrode in a capacitor, battery, or cell.
   • ▪ the anode of a thermionic tube. North American

   verb

   • 1. cover (a metal object) with a thin coating or film of a different metal: "she had already taken the coin to a jeweler to be plated"
   • ▪ cover (an object) with plates of metal for decoration, protection, or strength: "the ship is plated in the bows with steel eighteen millimeters thick"
   • 2. serve or arrange (food) on a plate or plates before a meal: "overcooked vegetables won't look appetizing, no matter how they are plated"
   • 3. score (a run or runs); cause (someone) to score: "Matt Wignot plated two of Clarkson's runs"
   • 4. inoculate (cells or infective material) on to a culture plate, especially with the object of isolating a particular strain of microorganisms or estimating viable cell numbers.

   Word Origin Middle English (denoting a flat, thin sheet, usually of metal): from Old French, from medieval Latin plata ‘plate armor’, based on Greek platus ‘flat’. plate (sense 1 of the noun) represents Old French plat ‘platter, large dish’, also ‘dish of meat’, noun use of Old French plat ‘flat’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. plateful noun
   • 2. plateless adjective
   • 3. plater noun

   Scrabble Points: 7

   • P

     3

   • L

     1

   • A

     1

   • T

     1

   • E

     1

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